‘You’re all right, Soph love, I think I’ll leave you to it,’ he said and handed them a packet of crisps and some chocolate. ‘Thought you might want these for the munchies.’

‘Oh, Alan, you’re a hero,’ Angie said, grabbing the crisps and opening them while Sophie took the chocolate.

‘Enjoy, ladies,’ Alan said, rubbing his hands together in the cold, ‘I’m going back inside.’

After he’d shut the door, Angie turned to Sophie, stuffing crisps into her mouth. Sophie wasn’t sure she’d ever seen her eat junk food before. ‘He’s a keeper, that Alan,’ she said.

‘He really is,’ Sophie replied, smiling wistfully. Then she added, ‘So’s Jack.’

She saw Angie’s face cloud over before she shrugged and ate another handful of crisps.

‘Everything okay, Ange?’ she asked.

‘Yes, yes, yes,’ Angie said. ‘Now pass me that spliff.’

They stayed outside for forty-five minutes, until they could no longer feel their hands or feet. Eventually, they reluctantly called it a night. As they stood up to go in, rocking a little unsteadily, Sophie reached over and gave Angie a hug.

‘Night, Ange,’ she said.

‘Night, darling,’ Angie replied.

It was amazing, Sophie thought afterwards, how you could go for years without knowing somebody and then they came into your life and you wondered how you survived without them for so long. She remembered how quickly she had dismissed the Taylors as ‘not our type of people’ but now, just a few months later, life didn’t feel right if she didn’t see them most days.

They were having a New Year’s Eve party together that evening and she was looking forward to letting her hair down. Tom and Katie were fizzing with excitement and had dashed off to select which of their new toys to show Ellie and Freddy. Sophie left Alan to doze a little longer while she went upstairs to get ready. After a quick shower, she stood in front of her wardrobe in her towel and considered her options. Her usual going out clothes, which were normally perfectly adequate, suddenly looked frumpy and boring. She suspected that Angie would be looking even more glamorous than usual this evening, given the occasion.

As she observed her clothes with a new-found distaste, she remembered the parcel that Angie had given her on Christmas Eve, before she had left to visit Jack’s family.

‘It’s for New Year’s Eve,’ Angie had said, giving her a hug and rushing off to supervise the children’s packing.

Sophie ran downstairs and found the present, alone under the tree where it had been abandoned in her own dash to get ready for their trip. Glancing at Alan, who was now snoring, she picked it up and took it back upstairs with her. Sitting on the bed, she ripped open the perfectly wrapped gift and gasped when she saw what was inside.

It was a beautiful silk gathered dress, with tones of black and bright blue running through it. She slipped it on and looked at herself in the mirror, running her hands down the dress and feeling the smoothness of it against her skin. It fit perfectly. She thought of the candle and chocolates she had given Angie for Christmas and felt horribly embarrassed, but it didn’t last. How could she feel bad when she had a beautiful dress like this? She blow-dried her hair and did her make-up while the children, who had drifted into the bedroom, lay on her bed waiting for her. When she was ready the three of them made their way downstairs to wake up Alan.